Maurice Compte Signs with Zero Gravity Management for Representation

Posted on February 2, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

Maurice Compte has zeroed in on new representation…

Zero Gravity Management has signed the Cuban-American actor-producer.

Compte is best known for portraying Pablo Escobar’s nemesis, Colonel Horacio Carillo, in the first two seasons of Netflix’s Narcos.

His other major credits include his villainous turn opposite Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Peña in David Ayer’s police actioner End of Watch, and the STXfilms crime drama, Den of Thieves, in which he appeared alongside Gerard Butler.

Compte currently appears as Detective Mike Duarte on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and has also been seen on such notable series as Mayans M.C., Breaking Bad, Power and From Dusk Till Dawn, among others.

Other notable film credits include Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and Ayer’s DEA crime pic, Sabotage.

As a burgeoning producer, Compte’s goal is to spotlight elevated and visceral stories with authentic cultural underpinnings. He is currently a co-executive producer on Hotel Cocaine — an upcoming crime drama from Narcos creator Chris Brancato that’s headed to MGM+. The show tells the story of Miami’s infamous Hotel Mutiny, where Compte’s father Roman was general manager during the drug-fueled 1980s.

STXfilms Acquires Worldwide Rights to Melissa Barrera-Starrer “Bed Rest”

Posted on October 25, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Melissa Barrera’s latest project is going global…

STXfilms has acquired the worldwide rights to Bed Rest, a supernatural thriller to star the 31-year-old Mexican actress/singer and In The Heights star.

Writer-director Lori Evans Taylor will make her directorial debut on the project.

After years of struggling to start a family, Julie Rivers (Barrera) is pregnant again and moving into a new home with her husband as they embrace a fresh start. Upon being ordered to mandatory bed rest, Julie begins to slowly unravel as she suffers through the monotony and anxiety of her new constraints. Soon, terrifying ghostly experiences in the home begin to close in on Julie, stirring up her past demons and causing others to question her mental stability. Trapped and forced to face her past and the supernatural, Julie fights to protect herself and her unborn baby.

Bed Rest is being produced by William Sherak, James Vanderbilt, and Paul Neinstein through their Project X banner, along with Evans Taylor and Barrera. Cameras roll next month in Winnipeg.

STXfilms will release Bed Rest directly in the US, UK and Ireland, and in the rest of the world through its network of foreign distribution partners.

“Bed Rest is a chilling supernatural cinematic thriller,” said Adam Fogelson, chairman, STXfilms Motion Picture Group. “Lori Evans Taylor’s script was on the Black List for a reason: her compelling writing comes from a personal point of view we haven’t often seen on the big screen, and that will elevate the material. We’re also big believers in Melissa Barrera’s talent as an actress to bring this character to life. Horror has been a consistently successful genre for us at STX, and as a studio with a strong track record supporting female filmmakers, we are proud to be releasing Lori’s directorial debut. We’re also thrilled to be in business with William, James, Paul and the Team at Project X on a movie that will keep audiences riveted.”

Project X partners Sherak, Vanderbilt and Neinstein added, “We have known Lori both personally and professionally for years and have always been huge fans of her writing. This screenplay was so unnerving and deeply felt, we knew she was the right director to bring this to the screen. We had just worked with Melissa on Scream, where we saw her incredible talent first hand. We’re thrilled to have put them together, and that our longtime friends at STX will be our partners on this project. Their success with low and mid budget films and their commitment to female and diverse talent, both in front of and behind the camera, make them the ideal home for this film.”

In addition to In the Heights, and the upcoming Scream from Spyglass Media and Paramount, Barrera starred in the musical Carmen, and the Netflix series Breathe. She previously starred in the Starz series Vida and the independent film All The World Is Sleeping, which recently premiered at the New York Latino Film Festival. She was recently announced as Clinique’s new Global Ambassador.

Sofia Carson’s “Songbird” Will Be Available on Premium VOD in December

Posted on November 17, 2020 by Tom Castaneda

Sofia Carson’s latest project will be right at your fingertips soon…

The 27-year-old Colombian American actress/singer’s Songbird, which was acquired by STX earlier this year, will be skipping theaters in exchange for a premium VOD release starting on Friday, December 11.

STX picked up the KJ Apa-Carson pandemic thriller produced by Invisible Narratives back in August. The movie was one of the first to shoot in Los Angeles during the pandemic under COVID-19 safety guidelines.

The film now will be available for $19.99 for a 48-hour rental on all transactional platforms. Following Songbird‘s nesting on PVOD, it will premiere on a major streaming service in 2021.

From producer Michael Bay and director Adam Mason, Songbird follows Riverdale‘s Apa as Nico, a bicycle messenger in a post-apocalyptic near future where COVID-19 has mutated to COVID-23. He’s smitten with his girlfriend Sara (Carson), who he hasn’t been able to see during the pandemic. Complicating life greatly is that the government is snatching up people who have the virus and tossing them into camps. Demi Moore, Craig Robinson, Bradley Whitford, Peter Stormare, Alexandra Daddario and Paul Walter Hauser also star.

Mason co-wrote the script with Simon Boyes.

“The pandemic has affected every aspect of our business, from production to release, but Songbird demonstrates that a nimble studio like STX can find effective and profitable ways to make their movies work,” says STXfilms Motion Picture Group chairman Adam Fogelson. “The show must go on. Songbird is a thrilling movie that will speak to audiences in this moment as it keeps them on the edge of their seats.”

Jennifer Lopez to Star Opposite Armie Hammer in the Lionsgate Action-Comedy “Shotgun Wedding”

Posted on October 27, 2020 by Tom Castaneda

It’s wedding bells and shotgun shells for Jennifer Lopez…

The 51-year-old Puerto Rican superstar will star opposite Armie Hammer in Lionsgate’s action-comedy Shotgun Wedding.

Pitch Perfect’s Jason Moore will direct from a screenplay by Mark Hammer and Liz Meriwether.

“Jennifer and Armie’s irresistible magnetism, separately and together, make them the perfect pairing for this action comedy,” said Erin Westerman, president of production for Lionsgate’s Motion Picture Group. “They are both incredibly funny actors that can also deliver on the action, but what sets this movie apart is the way their infectious chemistry commands the screen. You can’t take your eyes off them.”

The film follows Darcy (Lopez) and Tom (Hammer), who gather their lovable but very opinionated families for the ultimate destination wedding just as the couple begin to get cold feet. And if that wasn’t enough of a threat to the celebration, suddenly everyone’s lives are in danger when the entire party is taken hostage.

Lopez will produce the film alongside her Nuyorican Productions’ colleagues Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas and Benny Medina.

Production is expected to begin early next year. The film will be presented at the upcoming AFM.

Lopez can be seen next in highly-anticipated Universal rom-com Marry Me opposite Maluma and Owen Wilson.

She recently received rave reviews for her work in the STX film Hustlers.

Selena Gomez to Produce & Possibly Star in STXfilms’ Psychological Thriller “Dollhouse”

Posted on October 13, 2020 by Tom Castaneda

Selena Gomez is entering the dollhouse…

The 28-year-old Mexican American singer/actress has boarded STXfilms’ psychological thriller Dollhouse as a producer with an eye to also star.

The project is billed as being in the vein of Black Swan.

Gomez will produce through her July Moon Productions along with 21 Laps’ Shawn Levy and Dan Cohen. A search is underway for a director for the script penned by Michael Paisley set in the upper echelon of New York City’s fashion scene.

“Selena’s involvement is an exciting direction for this project. She is supremely talented as both a star and a producer,” sayid STX films Motion Picture Group chairman Adam Fogelson. “Teaming Selena with Shawn and Dan’s expertise in the horror-thriller genre will elevate Dollhouse and we couldn’t be more thrilled by the way this is being developed.”

Gomez recently served as executive producer on Tri-Star’s romantic comedy Broken Hearts Gallery. She signed on to reprise her lead female role in Sony’s Hotel Transylvania 4 and will also executive produce. She can currently be seen on her HBO Max cooking series Selena+Chef, which she executive produces. Gomez will produce and star opposite Steve Martin and Martin Short in Hulu’s Only Murders in the Building.

Her feature acting credits include The Dead Don’t Die, The Big Short, and the Netflix original Fundamentals of Caring.

Gomez also executive produced Living Undocumented and the Netflix series 13 Reasons Why.

Jennifer Lopez Earns Best Live-Action Box Office Opening of Her Career with “Hustlers”

Posted on September 16, 2019 by Tom Castaneda

Jennifer Lopez is proving the hustle is worth the effort…

The 50-year-old Puerto Rican superstar’s latest film Hustlers earned a stellar $33.2 million-plus from 3,250 theaters at the U.S. box office, the best start ever for STXfilms and the best live-action opening of J.Lo‘s career, according to early returns.

The female-led ensemble film came in a strong second behind New Line and Warner Bros.’ holdover It: Chapter Two, which earned $40.7 million in its sophomore outing.

Hustlers — buoyed by a diverse audience — is based on real-life events chronicled in a 2015 New York magazine story and stars Lopez, Constance Wu, Cardi B and more as strippers who lead a band of dancers in a plot to drug and steal from their Wall Street clientele in Recession-era New York City.

Julia Stiles, Keke Palmer, Lili Reinhart and Lizzo also star in the film from writer-director Lorene Scafaria, which earned rave reviews out of its world premiere at the Toronto Film Festival.

Hustlers cost a reported $20 million to make before marketing and is a much-needed win for STX (the indie studio’s previous biggest opening was Bad Moms with $23.8 million, not adjusted for inflation).

Females made up 67 percent of Hustlers‘ audience, while Caucasians represented 36 percent of ticket buyers, followed by African Americans (26 percent), Hispanics (27 percent) and Asians/Other (11 percent).

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